Thing is tho... how many boats in my price range are genuine? Of the two I have responded to so far (two days since deciding I seriously want a boat) both have turned out to be *very* crude attempts to get me to send them money without having seen the boat?

There are a lot of scams out there! First thing to do is look through the sellers feedback and see what he's been buying and selling. If it's a load of iPhone cases, thatís usually not a good sign!

If there is other boaty stuff or even bits that you might be able to see on the boat it's self-thatís always a good sign.

Open a conversation with the seller, but donít give anything away. Start simple with "can I come and look at the boat" never offer to send any ID or money! Then if it sounds ok then go see the boat. Remember the will always be another boat so donít get carried away.

Nice looking boats both of them. Not sure how I feel about 6k for a 20 year old motor though... (NB I am a nubcake and know nothing, 20 yrs may be nowt on an outboard)

Certainly if you want <5k and fairly new motor you are going to be restricting yourself quite a bit. Some people would be happy with a 20 yr old motor (which is probably half the value of that package) assuming its been well maintained. All boats are compromises, so something else will need to give.

Sorry, i didn't mean to be dismissive. It's a very nice looking boat which has obviously had a lot of time spent on it.

I know am after the moon on a stick, and that compromise will be necessary.

So many of these boats are on the south coast that I may need to go down there for a weekend in the spring to see things in the 'flesh'. In any case it seems the real stumbling block maybe getting a tow hitch put on the car, but that's for another thread....

Nice looking boats both of them. Not sure how I feel about 6k for a 20 year old motor though... (NB I am a nubcake and know nothing, 20 yrs may be nowt on an outboard)

Hi Clamchowder

I am the owner of the humber attaque, no pressure at all but I can vouch for the engine being very well looked after. I bought this rib just under 1 year ago from Johnscubanut on the forum.
His dive club had owned the whole outfit from brannd new and they have now purchased a ribcraft 585. The rib had been stored under a barn for all its life,I'm sure if you pm him he will reassure you on the service history.

I will be perfectly honest, I bought it for £3200 and have spent close to 3k on it.

It is on ebay this week and I currently have 38 watchers, I would like to see it go to someone on the forum as I know it will make a great 1st boat for someone with a limited budget.

Good luck with the search. I've found it a complete lottery just buying an engine & then the one I did buy and was happy with has just been destroyed by a dealer during a routine service & they charged me almost £500 for the pleasure of bringing it home in several boxes !!!!
If you can get a reccomendation off or through someone on this site I would say it's your best option & don't part with a penny until you collect !!
I bought one through ebay/apollo duck from a clown called dan cooper/outboards cambridge among some of his alias's & it took me 6months to get my money back!
Again good luk & I hope you get something you can enjoy.